RevCyn

At our the preceding Ministry Days preceding the UU General Assembly, ableist language was used in worship to the extent that UUMA Board Member Josh Pawelek issued this response: Clearly there is a problem with ableism in our public presentation. Public statements, music, stories and metaphors that perpetuate ableism have been hurtful to colleagues. As with any oppression, this ableism likely runs deeper than our public presentation. I remain grateful to all those who are willing to call it to our attention, and I am deeply sorry that such calling is still necessary. ( The full response is here .) The most prominent example of ableist language in our movement, however, is our social justice arm: Standing on the Side of Love .  And before you say, "It's just a metaphor," I invite you to watch this and read this by UU minister Theresa Soto.  The point here is not to convince you that ableist metaphors are a problem.  The point is that we often think, even i...

Some late-night musings and meandering thoughts... A blog post from Rev. Kim Crawford Harvie at Standing on the Side of Love yesterday says, " Immigration reform is our Selma. "  I read this and think it means that I should go to this event that SSL and others are promoting now, a march in Phoenix on May 29.  In 1965, you see, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., put out a call asking UU clergy to come to Selma , saying , "The people of Selma will struggle on for the soul of the nation but it is fitting that all Americans help to bear the burden. I call therefore on clergy of all faiths to join me in Selma."  Many did, including the Rev. James Reeb . We are now, the next SSL post says, " Called to Arizona " to march along with our UUA president, Rev. Peter Morales. Last year, the Human Rights Campaign put out a "clergy call" asking clergy to come to Washington D.C., and I went.  I felt a bit like this was our Selma.  Certainly civil righ...